AMD to build gaming tablet

Waiting for AMD to adjust itself to the consumer mobile market was a little like waiting for Godot, but now it seems that the chipmaker really wants to contribute something.

Word on the street is that AMD is planning to build a tablet of its own to show its suppliers how it should be done.

According to TechRadar, AMD wants to build a game tablet, code-named as “Project Discovery” and the beast is so cool that it has already won an award for innovation at CES 2014, which will take place in January, 2014.

Images show that AMD’s upcoming gaming tablet will be similar to the Windows 8 Razer Edge gaming tablet. Thus, AMD’s gaming tablet would come equipped with a game controller and a docking station. If it will really see the sunlight, then it will obviously come equipped with Windows 8.1.

It looks like AMD’s “award winning” tablet will only be a prototype for now, with a commercial product being launched on the market later.

AMD said that it did not plan to enter the market with a branded tablet and peripherals at this time, which might suggest the new tablet might some sort of deal with another supplier, or it might be lying.

Either way, AMD entering the market will make it as popular as Microsoft was when it came out with its Surface tablet. The feeling out there among OEMs is that chipmakers should stick to making chips and leave the plastic and the tin to the experts.

AMD’s Mullins chip is a 64-bit, x86-based chip and the low-power Mullins APU is supposed to be AMD’s answer to Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm. Mullins has a claimed double per-watt performance over its predecessor, Temash.